


Summer Air

by cherrysprite



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 12:06:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19005457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrysprite/pseuds/cherrysprite
Summary: Liam is already cranky from forgetting his key on a hot day, but seeing Theo Raeken weeding the garden when he gets home doesn't do anything to calm him down.Came to me while I was dying of heatstroke while sweeping my driveway





	Summer Air

Liam felt around in his pockets as Mason's car pulled up to his house, trying to find the outline of a key that should be there, finding nothing. Great, because what he needed on a hot day was to be stuck outside until 5 when his parents were back from work when he had things he needed to do. "You alright back there?" Mason asked, looking like he was in a hurry to get back. Liam knew he had plans with Corey right after, so he sucked it up, nodded, and got out of the car, keyless. 

"Thanks for the ride, Mase," Liam said after he got out.

"No problem. See you tomorrow morning, last week!" Mason cheered before pulling away, leaving Liam on his sidewalk alone.

It was the last weekend before summer vacation and it was Monday the next day, meaning everything was a toss up of being extremely busy and boring at any given time. He'd just gone with Mason to the movies and for some lunch, but now that it was getting later in the day, he needed to get back. Of course, Liam could now remember where his key was, sitting on his nightstand right next to his unmade bed.

Liam turned around and started trudging towards his front steps to sit when he stopped in his tracks, spotting someone in the garden.  "Hey, what the hell?" He asked, gasping slightly when the figure turned around.  _That wasn't-_  "Theo, what are you doing at my house?"

The chimera rolled his eyes and got up from the ground, brushing his hands off on his jeans. "Relax, littlewolf. Your parents just hired me to clean up a little bit. I need the extra cash." Liam eyed all the gardening tools splayed across the walkway and raised his eyebrow. "Feel free to ignore me. In fact, please do."

Liam sighed and sat down on the brick stairs a few feet away from Theo, taking his phone out and shaking his head to himself. His phone was only at about fifteen percent, which wouldn't last him long at all what with the brightness set to outshine the sunglare. He scrolled through his Instagram for a few minutes before setting the phone down on the hot surface of the stairs and glancing back at Theo. He was quietly doing the work, taking all the long weeds and grasses out of the mulch pit by the front window. He hadn't seen him do something so casual before, and it was kind of interesting in an irregular way.

"You just gonna stare at me the whole time?" Theo asked without looking up, his voice snapping Liam out of his thoughts. The beta glared at him.

"I forgot my key," He grumbled and Theo snorted, a small smirk on his lips. "Oh, shut it."

"Shouldn't tell a guy with a large metal hook to shut it," Theo reminded, motioning to the gardening tool next to him. Liam scoffed and leaned back against the house, rubbing a hand over his forehead. He was already starting to get hot, and there wasn't any way inside that wouldn't set off the security system his parents installed. It's not like he could fit through one of the windows, anyway.

Liam watched Theo work for a few more minutes, mind wandering elsewhere. He had let Theo slip his mind in the last few weeks. Everything had started to feel normal, all of the older pack members going back to their various colleges and jobs, Mason, Corey, and Liam all attending classes again like nothing had happened. The chimera had just fallen between the cracks, and after all of the stress of their old situation, no one was all too concerned when he disappeared for awhile, but now he was back, in Liam's front yard, and Liam was guilty.

He hadn't even thought to check up on him despite the kind of change he had been through, things that had probably altered his life in such a way that he didn't know how to deal with it. Theo was quiet now, solitary, and didn't come back to school to pick fights or rile anyone up like he had before. He didn't even drive past the house like he used to. 

Liam got up off the stairs and knelt down next to him, Theo giving him a questioning look. "I should at least help you with this if I'm stuck out here," He offered as an explanation. Theo said nothing and went back to pulling more weeds, Liam wishing he would give him one word.

"I haven't seen you in awhile," The beta finally said after only the sounds of weeds being torn from their roots. Theo shrugged. 

"I've been busy."

"What about school?" Liam asked, looking at him questioningly. "You used to go."

"Online classes," Theo said, rubbing his hands together, feeling the dirt dry his skin. "Turns out they don't do much of a background check when you don't have to be in a classroom with someone."

Liam could sense that Theo was trying to end the conversation, so he didn't pry. He could admit that it hurt a little bit, but he must deserve it after not sparing him a second thought. 

\---

"How much are they paying you for this, anyway?" Liam asked, the first few words in about half an hour. Theo was sweeping the sidewalk while Liam did the driveway, both boys slightly struggling with the large brooms. 

"Thirty an hour," Theo said, pushing some dead grass off the pavement and into the street. "Weeding, sweeping, mowing the lawn, the works."

Liam scowled. "They could've gotten me to do it for free," he mumbled, looking up to see Theo with another smirk on his face as he swept. 

"Probably have to deal with a lot less whining from me," He joked, although he was mostly serious. "Twenty is the fee for doing the work, ten is a bonus for not being a baby about it."

Liam made sure to brush over Theo's feet on purpose after that one, earning yet another unimpressed smirk and a lighthearted eyeroll.

The walkway and driveway wasn't the only thing they needed to sweep, so they headed to the backyard about twenty minutes later and tried to get all of the little helicopter leaves out of the wood porch. They were all stuck between the space in between each plank, making them a pain in the ass to get out. Liam was having a harder time doing it than the older boy, and when Liam glanced over at him, he stopped for a brief second and let his eyes wander.

Theo had a thin sheen of shiny sweat on his brow and forehead, his squinted eyes looking even greener under the sunlight. He looked completely emotionless and focused on his work, not even looking up at Liam when he noticed the beta staring. He just swept and did his job, thinking of the money he would get. Liam snapped himself out of it again and started to sweep the small pile of leaves off the side of the railing, looking down at his hard work of a mostly clean deck. 

"What are you guys cleaning up for, anyway?" Theo asked, grabbing Liam's broom and heading to the shed to put them away. Liam, happy that Theo was the one to ask something, obliged and answered.

"They're having a graduation barbeque next weekend," Liam explained. "It's mostly family, Mason, Corey, Nolan..." He listed, Theo nodding absently. Liam bit his lip. "You can come, if you want."

Theo knew Liam saw the tiny, split-second falter in his movement, but he just shrugged noncommittally again. "I'm not really one for barbeques," He waved off, wringing out his tired hands. 

"Have you ever even been to a barbeque?" Liam asked, being ignored as usual. "Just keep it in mind."

"Alright," Theo responded, planning to forget about it as soon as he walked off the property if he could help it.

\---

A few hours later, they were sweeping the driveway yet again. The wind had picked up for a few minutes and sent more helicopter seedlings raining down on their freshly cleared asphalt, causing both of them to groan and get back up for the brooms. The heat was really starting to get to Liam and he wished he were inside where the air was on full-blast, but at that point, he wasn't even sure what time it was or if it was even close to when his parents would come home. "Thirty is not enough to be out in his heat," Liam decided with a sigh.

"It's good enough for me," Theo said, continuing to work even as Liam leaned against his broom tiredly. "You don't have to be doing this, you know. You're not getting paid, and you don't need money anyway."

"I know," Liam admitted, going back into action. "I just felt kind of bad watching you without helping."

"Right," Theo said and Liam tilted his head to the side. "You're doing this out of the kindness of your heart." He sweeped a particularly large clod of seeds off into the grass. "I've always liked that about you."

Liam's heart stuttered in his chest.  _What?_ "Theo-"

"Hand me that broom? Mine's wearing out," Theo said, motioning to the unused one sitting against the house. Liam nodded and tossed it over to him, letting the topic drop.

\---

Liam arose from the garage victorious, holding two bottles of slightly warm but all the more refreshing root beer that he'd found behind a few boxes. Theo smiled at him appreciatively from where he was sitting under a tree, his eyes closed and lips slightly parted. Liam bit his tongue. Theo looked  _pretty_.

He hoped Theo didn't recognize his speeding heart as he sat down next to him, their knees touching as Liam handed him the bottle. "Cheers," Liam said tiredly, uncapping the bottle and holding it out to Theo. The chimera tapped the necks of the glass together and took a sip, Liam gulping his down fast while the other savored the sweet taste. Even if it was a tiny bit flat and not cold, it was refreshing all the same.

When Theo opened his eyes, Liam was staring at him and not even trying to hide it anymore. His head rested against the tree bark and he would probably have dirt in his hair when he pulled back, but he looked too sleepy to mind. Theo smiled at him softly. "Thanks for helping today," He said.

Liam shrugged. "No problem. Thanks for doing good work. I don't think I could have done this well," He admitted.

"Damn right," Theo sighed, ignoring the blatant look of annoyance Liam was giving him with a snicker. He looked around at the cleaned yard and then back down at Liam. 

The chimera let his hand rise up, his thumb ghosting over the skin below Liam's eyes. Liam swallowed and bit his tongue as he did so, finding that spending one afternoon together could apparently change things  _a lot._ "You're a little pink," Theo commented. "Sunburn."

Sunburn, or the blush that Liam knew he couldn't stop from having Theo just that close. "Yeah, well," Liam muttered, gazing up at him through his eyelashes and leaning against the tree even more, relaxed by Theo's touch. "You have freckles."

Theo let out a laugh that sounded more like a breath through his nose. "And I'll have more from the sun if I keep this up. Do they suit me?" He asked the beta.

"Yeah," Liam admitted, laughing slightly with him and then falling into a calm silence. He held his bottle against his stomach and listened to the sound of Theo breathing, wondering what to say next until the words just spilled out of him without meaning to. "It was weird not having you around," Liam said. "I should have come and found you. We've been worried about you."

"Your pack was worried about me?" Theo scoffed, looking at Liam incredulously. Liam blushed harder and rubbed the back of his head.

"Okay,  _I_  was worried about you. Nothing really felt right without you there, and now that I've seen you-" Liam shut his mouth with a click of his jaw once the sentences kept flowing without his permission, noticing how Theo was looking at him with surprise. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Theo whispered, and it was then that Liam realized Theo's heart was beating just as irregularly as his was. He brought his hand back up to Liam's face and rubbed over his reddened skin, looking at him with consideration. "...If freckles suit me, sunburn suits you," Theo said, pausing. "Or this blush, if that's the case."

With the tiny grin Theo gave him, Liam didn't wait anymore and threw himself forward, Theo meeting him halfway and wrapping his arms around his back and pulling him up onto his lap. Their lips finally met for the first time in a hard clash, Theo kissing him right back with fervor as if Liam was the oxygen he needed to survive. Liam's heart skipped and bounded like an excited puppy when he felt a hand go from the small of his back up into the hair on the back of his head, holding him firmly but still gently closer to the chimera with care. Their lips danced and Liam felt like he was slowly being caught on fire, but in the best way possible.

Theo broke away for air first, since even if Liam seemed more important, he did need literal oxygen. He opened his mouth to speak when he heard the rolling of a car pulling into the driveway, and Liam scurried off his lap when he caught sight of it.

Liam brushed himself off and smoothed his hair down as he got up, Theo following behind. "Hi, boys," Jenna Geyer greeted her son and Theo, eyes passing over their flustered states with amusement. "The place looks great, Theo. I owe you what, one-fifty?" Theo nodded sheepishly, almost hesitant to take the money from her as she held it out from her wallet. "Really, you did a great job. If you're interested, you could do this again, if you wanted to. I mean, I'm sure Liam wouldn't mind," She said, causing her son to look down at his shoes like he hadn't heard her.

Theo grinned. "Sure, whenever you need me," he offered, pocketing the money and glancing back at Liam, who was trying to make it seem like he wasn't looking at him. "It was no problem."

"Why don't you come to the graduation barbeque we're having this Saturday?" Jenna offered, looking between the two of them. Theo glanced at Liam, who nodded reassuringly.

"Um, sure, yeah, that would be great," Theo said kindly, putting his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. Jenna smiled.

"Well, I'll see you there. I'll let you two get back to all the hard work you were doing..." she trailed, heading off towards the house. When the door shut, Liam looked around to make sure she wasn't looking out any windows before walking towards him. 

Liam put his hands on Theo's shoulders and rubbed. "I thought you weren't really one for barbeques," He commented as Theo placed his hands on his waist.

Theo responded with a soft kiss, one a lot less aggressive and panicked than the last. Liam grinned up at him, his eyes shiny.

"...I could come around."


End file.
